Surge Pricing Comes To Universal Studios Hollywood Theme Park

Screen Shot 2016-02-02 at 10.23.36 AM“Hey kids, want to go to Universal Studios? No, not next weekend — that’s too expensive — but next Wednesday will be more affordable thanks to a new pricing model that varies the pre-order price for tickets depending on the predicted demand from consumers!”

In an effort to encourage visitors to pre-order tickets to Comcast-owned Universal Studios Hollywood, the theme park has instituted a discounting program that takes off anywhere from $0 to $20 depending on the expected level of interest on that day.

For example, pre-ordering a ticket for any day of Valentine’s weekend will run you $90 each, only $5 off the price at the gate. But if you go in the doldrums of the Tuesday/Wednesday rut, you save $15/ticket. For some reason, Feb. 23 must be the dullest of all days at Universal, because tickets are down to $75 each on that date.

The L.A. Times reports that Comcast is doing this all in advance of the April opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Hollywood. The park is expecting heavy demand on weekends that month, and so visitors only get the $5 discount. If they are willing to wait until May to check out the Harry Potter attractions, the weekend tickets aren’t as pricey.

Of course, if you’re going to the park day of, expect to pay the full $95, regardless of whether or not it’s a slow business day.

Universal tells the Times that it has no immediate plans to charge more than the standard $95/ticket price for high-demand days, but the company has not ruled that out as a possibility.

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